What Are Families For?
by An Ordinary Riceball
Summary: (Self-harm Awareness. Vent.) As she watched the blood flow down her arm into the water in the bathtub, it felt like the tension inside of her was suddenly gone, her frustration seeping out of the wound with the crimson liquid. A sense of euphoria hit her, temporarily silencing the voices in her head and the thoughts that had been nagging at her nonstop for the past few weeks.


_**Warning: Self-harm, Cutting, and Depression.**_

_**I don't own Full House**_

* * *

The idea originally came to mind after seeing the self-inflicted scars on another girl at the school. To be honest, she didn't even like the idea of scratching up her own skin at first, but one day, after a really bad argument with DJ, she decided to try it, taking a razor blade to her once flawless skin just to see how it made her feel.

And surprisingly, as she watched the blood flow down her arm into the water in the bathtub, it felt like the tension inside of her was suddenly gone, her frustration seeping out of the wound with the crimson liquid. A sense of euphoria hit her, temporarily silencing the voices in her head and the thoughts that had been nagging at her nonstop for the past few months.

For the next three days, everything felt okay, and once again, she just repeated the process, leaving more cuts this time than last.

She kept this routine up for several weeks until DJ happened to catch a glimpse of some blood leaking through her sleeve.

"Steph, wait, you're bleeding. Are you okay?" DJ called out as she started to leave her room.

"I'm bleeding? Oh, so I am." Stephanie gave a nervous smile, when she looked down at the blood soaked sleeve. She had cut a little deeper than intended tonight, so maybe it hadn't clotted as much as she thought it had. "It was Comet. He kind of scratched me earlier. You know dogs. They can be so jumpy sometimes."

"Well, do you need somebody to look at it?" DJ approached her cautiously, feeling like her sister was acting a little weird. "If so, I can get Dad to-"

"No, don't!" Stephanie immediately hissed, cutting her off. "You can't…!"

"Why? What's wrong, Steph?" DJ suddenly looked concerned when her sister flunked back on the bed, looking guiltier than ever.

"I…" Stephanie uttered, fidgeting with her bloodied sleeve.

"Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me. We're sisters, right?" DJ placed a hand on the back of her sister's shoulder, sitting next to her.

"Well…, okay…," Stephanie suddenly looked up at DJ with a panicked desperation in her eyes. "but you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody, especially not Dad. Please, Deej."

DJ gave a conflicted look. She really didn't want to make a promise that she couldn't keep, but something nagged at her and told her that whatever Stephanie was hiding was serious, if the blood wasn't enough of a warning.

"…Alright, I promise I won't tell him." DJ said apprehensively.

After a moment, Stephanie reached down, slowly rolling up her sleeve to reveal multiple cuts on her arm.

"Oh my god , what happened to your arm…?!" DJ cried out, terror filling her facial features. "Did you do that…?"

As expected, her reaction was panicked just like Stephanie thought it would be and she quickly pulled her sleeve down and hid it from the view of the hallway, in case somebody happened to have heard them.

"Steph, you really need to get this looked at…!" DJ exclaimed.

"No! I can't. Dad and everybody else will be so mad at me and I'll be taken away to some place far away where I won't be able to see you or anybody else, I don't want to go through that…!" Stephanie hissed, tears in her eyes.

"But Steph, you really need to talk to somebody about this…" DJ pled, feeling at a loss of what to do.

Stephanie jumped up. "Don't worry. I won't ever do this again. Just please, don't tell them…"

"Alright…" DJ sighed. "But promise me you won't hurt yourself anymore."

In the moment of desperation, Stephanie was willing to say anything so DJ wouldn't worry so much anymore.

"Okay, I promise. Thanks, Deej…" Stephanie murmured, hugging her.

"It's no problem. Hey, Steph?" DJ cracked a small smile.

"Yeah?" Stephanie looked up at her.

"I know I don't say this a lot, but you really mean a lot to me…" DJ said.

"You mean it?" Stephanie seemed surprised.

"Of course." DJ smiled, giving her a friendly shake. "After all, what would I do without my favorite sister there to bug me?"

"I guess I do do a pretty good job at that..." Stephanie smirked.

DJ laughed a little herself, momentarily ruffling her back. "C'mon, we should probably get you cleaned up."

Stephanie got up. "Yeah, I guess you're right… Thanks."

DJ hugged her from the side. "Don't mention it."

…

However, that unfortunately wasn't the end of it. Rather, from that point on, it only got worse. Aside from being unable to stop herself from cutting more frequent and deeper, she made it a mission to cut higher on her arms and bandage her injuries firmer than ever so nobody would see or suspect anything.

That didn't stop her from feeling awkward when a certain subject got brought up.

"Hey, has anybody seen the bandages? I got a nick on my finger." Joey asked, causing Stephanie to tense up as she was getting around to leave for school. She had been planning to get a few more boxes after school today in hopes that nobody would even noticed their absence. Unfortunately, it was never that easy.

"I don't know. They should be in the bathroom, shouldn't they? That's where they usually are, anyway." Jesse said, mostly preoccupied with feeding his kids.

"Well, they're not, I just checked." Joey said.

"That's strange. I could have sworn there was a whole box of bandages in the bathroom just the other day." Danny thought aloud.

"Wow, that really is strange, isn't it?" Stephanie smiled nervously, trying to ignore the suspicious look she was receiving from DJ, and basically everybody in the room except for Nicki and Alex, before quickly changing the subject. "Anyway, I should probably get going. Love you, Dad."

"Hold it, you're not going anywhere." Danny called out, stopping her in her tracks after she hugged him and began to run towards the door. "You know something, don't you?"

"What are you talking about? I don't know anything. It's not like I go into the bathroom every other night and steal bandages or anything." Stephanie tried to lie, failing miserably.

Jesse and the others exchanged brief looks with each other, causing Stephanie to grow more flushed than ever. She'd never been good at lying, but this was the worse position she could have possibly been put in.

"Well, I'm gonna go now… Ha-ha-ha…" She gave a nervous laugh, before rushing out the door, this time before anybody could even stop her.

DJ was left with a conflicted look on her face. Was Stephanie seriously cutting herself again? What was she supposed to do…? Danny probably wasn't the type that would be easy to approach about something like this; there was no telling how he would react.

And so she decided as a second bet as somebody else who had parents of their own, either Jessie or Becky would be the best choice, and since she had known Jesse the longest, that was the person she decided to go with.

So, later that day when he was in his Studio, she went in and decided to confront him on the matter.

"Uncle Jesse, can I um… talk to you about something…?" She asked.

"Sure, I have a little bit of time to kill. What's up?" He asked, turning around to face her, sensing that it was probably pretty serious.

"I… Well, this is going to sound really bad, but what would you do if you found out that somebody you knew was cutting themself…?"

"What? You mean like on purpose?" Jesse asked, a little confused at first.

"Yeah." DJ confirmed.

"Well, I…" Jesse started to say, before a question began to nag at him. "Hold on, where is this coming from? You aren't doing that, are you…?"

"No, no, it's not me , Uncle Jesse!" DJ dismissed. "…But it is somebody I care about and I want to know how to help them… They said they would stop, but it's been several weeks and they still haven't. What do I do?"

"...Well… Alright, listen to me, the most important thing you gotta do is let that person know that you really care about them… But, DJ…, something like this… It's not always something you can always put a stop to alone… you know that, don't you…?"

"Yeah, and I thought I could handle it myself, but I'm really scared…"

"I know, Sweetheart… Can you tell me who this person is…?" Jesse asked softly.

"Promise me you won't overreact, but it's Steph…" DJ finally choked out.

"…Wait, you mean our Steph?" Jesse gave a look of terrified dumbfoundment.

"Yeah, haven't you found her behavior strange lately, how long she's been staying in the bathroom and even the missing bandages?" DJ said. "Steph has been hiding everything from you guys. I found out a few weeks ago and made her swear she wouldn't do it again, but she wouldn't listen to me. I'm sorry."

"…Oh my god… I've got to go talk to Danny about this… Also, no matter what anybody says, there's nothing to feel bad about. I know that this was a very hard decision for you to make, but you did the right thing, Deej."

"It's… no problem, Uncle Jesse…" DJ smiled a little, but couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, knowing that Stephanie probably wouldn't forgive her for a while over this. But she had to get it out.

"Now go get your dad, I'm gonna go talk to Steph, okay?" Jesse said.

"Alright." DJ nodded following him out of the studio.

…

When Jesse came into Stephanie's room, the only one in there was Michelle, who was playing Tea Party with her stuffed animals.

"Hey, Munchkin, have you seen your sister?" He asked.

"That depends, which one are you talking about?" She asked.

"I meant Steph." Jesse said.

"Oh, well, in that case, she said she was going to the bathroom." Michelle answered.

It was in that moment that he heard a sudden scream from Joey, coming from the bathroom.

If Michelle hadn't answered the question, that would have.

Within an instant, he was by Joey's side, alongside basically everybody else in the house.

"What's wrong? What happened?!" Danny asked frantically.

"It's Stephanie! She's covered in blood." Joey informed as Danny rushed into the bathroom.

Words alone couldn't even express the terror that Danny felt when he approached the bathtub, to find his daughter in a bathtub full of blood.

"Oh my God! Steph, honey, can you hear me?!"

"Steph!"

Within an instant, everybody was in a panic trying to figure out what to do, when Danny, saw the cuts residing on her wrists and upper arms. Fortunately, she still seemed to be breathing, but she might not be for long, unless they did something about it. "Somebody, get towels. Somebody call an ambulance!"

"I'll grab the towels!" DJ immediately responded, feeling a similar sense of terror to the one that she had felt back when her mother had died, or the one that she had felt when she thought something had happened to her father.

"And I'll call an ambulance." Becky quickly added, rushing down the hall.

"I'll go get her a change of clothes then." Jesse followed behind her, as Danny pulled the plug in the bathtub.

"And anything else you need, I'll be right here."

"Right, I need your help getting her out of here."

"...What's wrong with Steph? Is she going to be okay?" Michelle asked, gaining pained glances from the other people in the room. A child her age could never truly grasp such a thing, but she was old enough to know that something was wrong, so Joey knelled down in front of her patting her on the shoulder.

"Michelle, honey, your sister is just feeling very sick right now. Would you mind giving us some space to take care of her...?"

Michelle seemed reluctant at first, but decided to go along. "Well… Alright… I hope she feels better."

Joey smiled a bit, ruffing up her hair before she left. "I do too."

_We all do..._

…

The first thing she registered was the beeping of machines, followed by the dull pain in her arms. Opening her eyes, she realized she was in a hospital. From her peripheral, view she saw several figures sitting beside her bed.

It didn't even take a single glance to recognize them as her Father, Uncle Jesse and DJ.

"Steph?" Her sister called out at seeing her eyes open. Stephanie tensed up a bit, turning her head away. She was certain that they were all mad and disappointed in her.

However-

"Oh, Steph, honey, thank God you're awake. We were all so worried about you...!" Her dad suddenly brought her into his arms, surprising her. "How are you feeling?"

"...I'm fine, Dad. But what are you doing? I thought you would be mad at me…" Stephanie said.

"Mad? Me? Of course not. I'm just very worried about you, Sweetheart. We all are..." Danny said, wiping the liquid from her lashes. The fact that his baby girl had been tearing her own skin to pieces tore him apart too, but on the inside.

"Yeah, nobody's mad at you. We just wish you would have came to us to ask for advice first before doing this." Jesse added.

"That's right. We care about you, Steph. And it really hurts us to see you hurting." DJ said with a pain-filled look. Seeing Stephanie covered in blood like that... It had filled her with a similar sense of terror that finding out about her mom's death did. She never wanted to go through that again.

"Yeah, your sister's right. Honey, why didn't you tell somebody you were feeling this way? We could have helped you." Danny said.

"...I didn't know how to bring it up and I was afraid they'd send me away somewhere. I guess it looks like that's inevitable now, though..." Stephanie murmured.

Everybody in the room was silent for a moment, knowing there was knowing they could do to prevent the hospital from admitting her to a psyche ward over this.

"Hey, things are gonna work out, so try not to worry so much, Steph." DJ said.

"She's right, and even if you were taken one thousand miles away, I'd find a way to make sure to be right there to pay you a visit every single day." Jesse smiled.

Stephanie looked up at them for a moment, before smiling a bit. "Thanks, guys."

"Hey, what are families for?" DJ returned the gesture.

"Now, sweetheart… Can you tell us why you did this...?" Danny asked after a moment, broaching the question that had been weighing on everybody's mind for the past few hours. Even DJ didn't know why Stephanie had been cutting herself.

Stephanie looked away as if feeling guilty. "...I don't know… I guess it kind of distracts me."

"Distracts you from what, Steph?" DJ wanted to know.

"I…" Stephanie started to say but trailed off into silence again, unable to bring herself to answer the question.

After a moment of silence, Jesse spoke up again reaching out to stop the girl from fidgeting with the bandages on her arms. "Hey, hey, hey, look at me."

After a second of hesitance, Stephanie did as asked.

"We want to help you, but listen, we can't do that unless you talk to us. So do you think you could say what's bothering you...?" Jesse gave her a desperate look, hoping more than anything that she would tell them what was wrong.

"...It's everything, Uncle Jesse... I have a great family, good friends, and so many people who care about me, and yet, I always feel so alone, and I don't even know why. All I can ever think about is mom and how much I miss her, nothing ever seems to go right anymore, everybody's been so busy, and I just feel so anxious all the time. I can't stand it anymore. I'm so tired of fighting these feelings by myself."

"Hold on, who said you had to fight this by yourself?" Jesse asked.

"I did." Stephanie answered. "I wanted to prove to myself that I could be strong and deal with everything like everybody else is."

"But you are strong, Steph." Danny pointed out. "You've been through a lot, from losing your mom, to helping take care of Michelle, to even doing what you can to help me. For you to hold out for this long, that's _amazing_."

"Yeah, you just don't see it yet." Jesse chipped in. "And you know what? Even I have to talk to others about my feelings sometimes just like you need to, but that doesn't make us weak."

"It doesn't…?" Stephanie looked up at him.

"Of course not." Jesse said.

"...Thanks, Uncle Jesse." Stephanie gave a small smile.

"Don't mention it…" Jesse returned the gesture, giving a small nudge on her cheek.

"Hey, sweetie?" Danny's voice caught her attention.

"Yeah, Dad?" Stephanie inquired.

Danny was silent for a moment, before placing his hand on hers. "I know it may seem like we don't care, or like we've been too busy to pay much attention to you lately, but if there's something that's ever bothering you this much, you just have to talk to us. I promise that there will always be somebody around who can help you through it..."

"Heck, even if we don't have the time, then we'll just make the time." Jesse proclaimed. He may have been unable to save Pam from the car accident, or even Pappouli from natural causes, but he refused to lose his niece over something like this. Heck, he would give up his entire world if he had to to see that she made it through this.

"That's right, Steph, don't ever be afraid to come to us if you're having a problem. That's what family is for, right?" DJ added.

"Yeah... I guess I'm feeling a little better now. This probably looks pretty stupid, huh?" Stephanie muttered.

"What? No, honey. You were trying to get rid of the pain in the only way you knew how. There's nothing to be ashamed of. This is just something we're going to have to go through together." Danny said.

"Yeah, see, you've got us, Joey, Beck, and even Michelle, and we're gonna be right here every step of the way to make sure you get the help that you need."

"You promise?" Stephanie gave him a desperate look.

"Hey, would your Uncle Jesse ever lie to you about something this?" Jesse smiled a bit.

"I guess not. Well, I'll trust you for now , anyway." Stephanie smirked a bit.

"That's all I could ask." Jesse involuntarily ruffled her hair a bit, before getting up. "Hey, Deej, we should probably go let Joey and the others know that she's awake."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'll see you in a little bit, Steph." DJ said.

"Alright." Stephanie replied, as the two left the room.

For a long moment, the room was silent, before Stephanie spoke up, surprising Danny.

"Dad?"

Danny looked up at her. "What is it, honey?"

"I'm sorry I worried everybody." Stephanie choked out, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's okay, Steph... I told you before that there's nothing to be saying sorry for… You didn't know what else to do." Danny insisted.

"Yeah, but I still feel so stupid right now…" Stephanie turned over on her side where some of her hair was covering her eyes and the salty liquid spilling out of them. "I love you, Dad."

Danny looked down at his daughter, at the bandages on her arms, feeling an incredible sense of guilt at not having noticed anything sooner; at not having been able to prevent things from getting this far. If Pam were still around, she would have known what to say and do to prevent it from getting this far. Heck, she probably would have been able to have stopped it from starting in the first place. But she wasn't here, so he would have to do what he could to pick up the pieces from here on out. And the most important thing right now was to let Stephanie know that he and the rest of the family cared about her.

"I love you too, Steph."

…

**A/N: I've never written for a life action series or sit com, let alone Full House and I honestly probably never will again. I really don't like how this turned out. For one, it's out of character, and it's also terribly rushed. I only wrote it for venting purposes and I didn't really proof read it, so forgive me.**


End file.
